Friction make-up post



Jan. 13, 1925- v 1,522,492

B. BOYKIN, v.JR

FRICTON MAKE UP POST Filed May 20, 1924 a@ @Mm Patented Jan. 13, 1925.

UNITED STATES ,BURWELL BOYKTN, 5R.,

OF BEAUHCNT, TEXAS.

ERECTION MAKE-UIP POST.

Application filed May 20,

To @ZZ 'whom t may concern: p

Be it known that I, BURWELL Boriirn, Jr., a citizen 'of the United States, residing at Beaumont, Texas, have invented a. certain new and useful Improvement in Friction Make-Up Posts, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a make-up post to be employed on rotar-ies in drilling operations for oil, water, sulphur and the like. It is adapted to provide a stop for the handle ofthe wrench employed in unscrewing the joints of the pipe while the said pipe .is being introduced into the well.

It is now customary, in screwing up the joints of pipe such as drill stem while it is beingintroduced into the well, to hold the pipe in the center table of the rotary in a stationary position and to rotate the joint or coupling constituting the upper half of the tool joint by means of a wrench engaging the tool joint and having the handle thereof bearing against a make-up post secured in an outer rotary portion of the table. n this way the Wrench is swung around and around the pipe until the tool joint is screwed up firmly.

It is an object of my invention to provide a makeup post to be employed on rotaries which will release the handle of the wrench when the'joint been fully screwed up, thus avoiding jamming the threads of the joint so firmly together as to lock the joint unnecessarily tight.

It is another object to provide a stop member of the make-up post against which the handle of the wrench may bear, which is held frictionally against rotation by a predetermined pressure and which will release the wrench handle when this pressure has been exceeded.

It is also desired to form a plurality of stop fingers, so that when the wrench handle has once been released, another stop finger will will be forced into operative position so as to again engage the wrench handle when desired. Other objects and advantages of the device will be apparent from the descript-ion which follows:

In the drawing herewith a preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed. Fig. l is a side elevation of the make-up post, the upper end thereof being in central section on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2, the upper and lower ends being seen in the direction of the 1924. Serial No. 714,556.

arrows. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the device. Lilie numeralsot reference refer to like parts inboth the views.

The lower1 portion of my make-up post is cylindrical as shown at l,"and'tlie lower end is reduced somewhat in diameter at 2 to fit within a socket ordinarily provided within the rotary table. A laterally projecting bracket 3 on said postis held in position thereon by set screw e. Said bracket has a downwardly extending angular lug 5 which is adapted to engage with a stop lug upon the table and thus preventrotation of the post.

The upper end of the post is flattened and formed into a. head 6 which is cylindrical in general outline. fi. central opening is made through said head to receive a clamping bolt 7. Below the head, the body of the post is flattened for a short distance to allow the rotation of the stop discs, as shown particularly in F ig. l.

Fitting against the opposite sides of the head are two discs 8 and 9, which are rotatable upon the shaft 7. Said shaft may be holt of suitable size having a nut 10 on one end thereof. The discl 8 is recessed slightly at 1.1 to receive the head 12 of the bolt. Said disc is also recessed on its inner face to receive an annular friction member 13, which may be of wood or some com4 position adapted to frictionally engage the head 6 of the post; said ring 13 is held in position in its annular seat by means of bolts or pins 14. Each of the discs has radially projecting stop fingers l5. As shown particularly in Fig. 2, these stop fingers have a flat face presented in the direction to receive the handle of the wrench. The other side of the finger' is formed with a downwardly inclined rib 16, to reinforce and strengthen the supporting finger. I provide a plurality of these stop fingers and in the present embodiment I have shown siX such members.

The disc 9 has a central hub 17 which has a cup shaped outer recess 18 to receive a spring 19. Said spring bears at its inner end against the wall of the disc, and at its outer end bears against a washer beneath the nut 10. It thus acts to resilient ly press the discs inwardly toward the head to maintain a frictional contact therewith. An annular recess on the inner face of the disc 9 forms a seat for a. second ring 18 similar.l to that employed on the opposite disc. The hub 17 of this disc is extended inwardly to fit within a recess 19 in the face of the head. It has slight movement there-- in againstl the tension of the spring 18.

ln the use of this device the post is secured in proper position upon the outer rotary table, and when the wrench has been engaged upon a pipe coupling or tool joint, it is in such position as to bear against the face of the upper stop linger 15. The ro-Y tation of the table will then carry the post 1 and the handle of the wrench around the pipe, thus tending to screw up the joint. When the joint has been screwed as tight as is desired, the pressure of the handle of the wrench upon the stop linger will cause the discs to rotate, thus releasing the handle of the wrench and bringing the next adj acent stop finger into operative position. lt is contemplated that the necessary friction to hold the wrench may be adjusted by the tension of the nut 10 upon the spring, so that the wrench handle will be released at the time when the joint is sufiiciently tight. Danger of locking the threads of lthe joint or mutilating them in any way will be thus avoided. lt will then be possible to unscrew the joints of the pipe more readily when it becomes desirable to remove the driil stem from the well.

It will be noted that the action of this make-up post is entirely automatic in its releasing of the wrench handle at the prop er time, and that the post is in proper position for use without readjustment whenever needed. It is possible to produce the proper friction between the discs and the head of the post without the necessity of the spring, and I do not wish to be limited to the exact type of friction device employed, as various modifications thereof may be made coming within the scope of the invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A make-up post comprising an upright supporting post, a flattened head on the upper end thereof, a rotatable/disc on each face of said head, radial stop fingers on said disc, and means to resist the rotation of said disc with a predetermined force.

2. A make-up post comprising an upright supporting post, a head thereon, a rotatable disc on said head, radially extending fingers on said disc, and means to resist the rotation of said disc wi-th a predetermined force.

3. A make-up post comprising an upright supporting post, a head on the upper end thereof opposite rotatable discs on said head, each disc having outward extending stop fingers thereon, and resilient means to resist the rotation of said disc for the purposek described. Y

et. A make-up post comprising an upright supporting post, a flattened head thereon, a disc pivoted for rotation on said head, means on said disc to engage a wrenchhandle, a..

friction ring between said disc and said head, and means to hold said friction ring against said head with a predetermined pressure. i

5. A make-up post comprising an upright supporting'post, a flattened head thereon, opposite rotatable discs on said head, radially extending means on said discs to engage a wrench handle, friction means on said discs and resilient means to hold said friction means in contact with said head BURWELL BOYKIN, JR. 

